Jake was deep in his thoughts, sitting on a bar counter, soothing his nerves with a spirit drink.

The first drink always burns my throat. He thought. Where the hell is Carl?

He swallowed another sip of vodka. This time, he did not feel the heat left by the vodka in his numb throat.

A pat on his back startled him.

“Hi, Jake! You're pretty jumpy! Huh?”

My friend Carl always uses his sense of humor to deal with serious issues

“What's that mysterious message you sent my mobile?”

Jake finished drinking his vodka in one gulp and asked the barman for another.

Carl waited until his friend finally decided to share what happened. Releasing a bomb that he never expected.

“My wife is a cat!”

Jake took his second drink in one gulp and requested another one.

“Hey! Easy man. Slow down”

Carl motioned to the barman to indicate that he wanted the same thing as Jake.

“It's obvious that women are wild beasts, aren't they?” Carl said, taking half of his drink and letting out a big laugh.

“It's not what you think! Angela is a cat! A cat!” Jake emphasized, raising his voice, and surprising the other people who drank at the bar.

In the background, a stranger replied: “Mine is a witch! I'll drink to that!” And all his companions drank at the same time and broke into laughter.

Carl toasted the strangers from the distance, finishing his drink. And immediately he asked for another drink.

“Let's see. Explain to me in detail what you have just said”

Jake rubbed his face with both hands and began to describe what happened.

“Today is our anniversary. We have been married for more than 6 years. I wanted to surprise her, so I decided to take the day off and dedicate it to her. I went home, and I was very cautious and approached our room to deliver a bouquet”

Carl nodded his head, giving all his attention

“But I was the surprised one. For a moment I thought it was an illusion. I had silently reached behind her, and suddenly, she began to wriggle and curl into a ball, then fell, her dressing gown covering her whole body. At first, I froze. It passed quickly, and I tried to help her, thinking she had suddenly become ill”

Jake closed his eyes and took his drink. Carl did the same and again asked for two more. Jake continued with his narration.

“I was petrified! I lifted her robe and found a cat in her place. Can you believe it!”

Carl wrinkled his brows

“Relax, Jake. What happened next?”

“For a moment, it seemed like an eternity. It looked at me with its big eyes, as if surprised, motionless. All of a sudden it took a step towards me and I made a reflexive leap back and fell flat on my butt. Immediately, the cat fled through the window and I ran down the stairs”

Carl broke into a laugh.

“You are kidding, right? Is this a joke?”

“Do you think I'm kidding? I'm in such a nervous breakdown!”

Carl cleared his throat and ordered two more drinks.

“Let's take it easy. We are talking about your wife. The warmest, most reliable, most charitable, and sweetest person I have ever met. She must have had some sort of defect, right?”

“And one thing is for sure, there should be no mice in your house!” Carl chuckled

“You and your damn sense of humor”.

“I'm sure she has some logical explanation of what happened. Give her an opportunity. For the love of God, Jake. It's been 6 years of living together! You won't throw that away, right?”

Jake swirled his half-empty glass, meditating on Carl's words.

“Are you allergic to cats?”

Jake looked at Carl, confused.

“Your mother once told me that when you were a baby, a cat made you take your first steps. You didn't walk, you always crawled everywhere, but at that moment you saw a cat for the first time in your life, and you tried to grab it and when you couldn't, you stood up in front of everyone and went after it”

Jake grinned as he remembered the story.

“Let's drink for that, buddy,” added Carl

They both took another drink.

“I'm sure she has not stopped being the same person she is. And surely she has not stopped loving you, otherwise, she would not be sitting for more than an hour on the other side of the bar, waiting for you to decide to talk to her”

That last sentence surprised Jake.

“What have you said?”

“You heard me very well. She is waiting for you. And her face is a little worried, I think it's because of what you're thinking about her right now and also because of the number of bums in this bar who have tried to invite her for a drink”

Jake frowned, annoyed by what he just heard.

This put Carl's mind even more at ease, as he could see that Jake was still worried about his wife.

“I'd better go, or I'll be late for work”

Jake remembered that Carl was a security guard. He loved to work at night.

“Don't think it over too much, give her a try”

Jake nodded as he continued to stare at his glass.

Carl paid for the drinks and walked towards Angela.

“Do not worry. He will come”

Angela smiled in gratitude for Carl's help.

Carl leaned even closer

“It is inevitable that they do not love our feline nature”

Carl winked and left.

Photo by Francesco Ungaro